The Bright Tucson Community Solar Program offers an easy and affordable way to meet your electric needs with locally generated solar power. As a TEP customer, you now have the opportunity to purchase solar power in “blocks” of 150 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per month. You can buy some or all of your power through the program, reducing or eliminating your energy from conventional resources.

Features and Benefits

•    No up-front expenses or equipment maintenance costs

•    Renewable energy option for renters and homeowner association (HOA) residents

•    Protection offered against future energy cost increases

•    Surcharge exemption for solar energy purchases on renewable energy, fuel and purchased power

•    Minimized carbon footprint and reliance on fossil fuels

•    Clean, green renewable energy for an affordable price

Minimal Cost

Solar power costs more than conventional energy derived from fossil-fueled power plants, so participating in the program will increase your electric bill. Each block replaces the charges for an equivalent amount of conventional power at a rate that currently adds $3.00 to your monthly bill.

Program rates must be paid in full each month regardless of actual energy consumption. If the solar energy purchased through the program exceeds actual usage during a monthly billing period, the excess is carried forward to the next billing period as a credit. Any credit remaining after the September billing period will be paid in full as a credit on the next bill.

Added Benefits

Program blocks are exempt from two surcharges applied to other electric usage: the Renewable Energy Standard Tariff (REST) and the Purchased Power and Fuel Adjustment Clause (PPFAC), so your actual impact will be lower. Both surcharges are adjusted annually to reflect changing energy costs and other factors, so the benefit of avoiding them would increase over time if the surcharges rise.

Rate Protection

Bright Tucson Community Solar Energy rates will remain fixed for 20 years. While blocks purchased through the program will still be subject to non-fuel rate changes, they won’t be affected by changes to the base energy rate, the PPFAC, or REST surcharges. By purchasing your share of locally generated solar power today, you can lock in a rate that could end up saving you money if energy costs rise.

For complete program information visit the Tucson Electric Power website.

It’s that time of year again, and we are all facing the same thing- colder temperatures. During these chilly months it is easy to crank up the heat and not think twice about the damage your warm house is having on the environment.

How many times have you left your house for a full day at work and not turned the heat down? What you probably didn’t realize is that for every degree you turn down your thermostat you can save between 1% and 3% in your heating costs.

Want to learn more ways to make your home a winter wonderland for you, your family and the environment? Take a look at these helpful tips such as running your fans in reverse, changing your furnace filters and lowering the temperature of your water heater.

Invest in a Programmable Thermostat

It’s wasteful to heat an empty house, so why not take advantage of a programmable thermostat? These thermostats will automatically lower your household temperature while you sleep, are away at work, as well as bringing the heat back up when you wake or arrive home.

With proper use, you’ll never notice the difference in temperature, but your bank account certainly will — you could end up saving more than 10 per cent on your home heating costs. And now, with so many easy-to-use Energy Star certified options, like the new Ecobee Smart Thermostat, you can change your home heating and cooling preferences whenever you want with at-home display panels or online through your WiFi network.

Run Fans in Reverse

Most people think of fans only when they want to be cool, but many ceiling units come with a handy switch that reverses the direction of the blades. Counterclockwise rotation produces cooling breezes while switching to clockwise makes it warmer: air pooled near the ceiling is circulated back into the living space – cutting your heating costs as much as 10%!

Turn Down your Water Heater

While many conventional water heaters are set to 140 degrees F by installers, most households don’t need that much steam, and end up paying for it — in dollars and the occasional scalding burn. Lowering the temperature to 120 degrees F (or lower) would reduce your water heating costs by 6% to 10%.

If you start to wonder why you need a tank at all, then you may be ready for a tankless water heater, or to go solar. If you are in the market for a new water heater, take advantage of the federal tax credit, which pays 30% of the cost for solar water heaters, or up to $1,500 for conventional systems. (Note: 2011 tax credits are less generous.)

Dress To Impress

Gone are the days (for most of us at least) when we can afford to lounge around in our underwear while it’s frosty outside. Remember what we said about each degree on the thermostat costing you money?
Roughly speaking, a light long-sleeved sweater is worth about 2 degrees in added warmth, while a heavy sweater adds about 4 degrees. So snuggle up and start saving.

Buy organic cotton thermal long johns for everyone in the family and wear layers of clothing made from breathable organic fabrics.

Seal It Up

One of the simplest ways to retain heat and reduce energy costs this winter is by installing proper weather-stripping and caulking around the house. Once all doors and windows are properly sealed, it’s time to plug those less obvious air leaks. An easy way to find hidden drafts is to hold a lit stick of incense around baseboards, light fixtures and electrical outlets – a strong leak will make the stick glow brighter and blow the smoke away, while smaller leaks will puff the smoke in a distinct direction.

Change Furnace Filters

Yes it’s easy to forget, but it’s important to replace or clean furnace filters once a month during the heating season. Dirty filters restrict airflow and increase energy demand.
Mind your pipes and gutters

By making sure that your gutters are clean and pipes are protected, you can save yourself some major repair headaches down the road. Keeping your gutters free of leaves, sticks and other debris will help melting snow and ice to flow freely, and prevent ice dams that can cause water damage to your home’s roof and walls.

Turning off the water to your outside garden hose spigots and draining the lines will  prevent water inside from freezing and expanding, which could lead to cracked pipes, water damage and waste. Also, look for any pipes inside that aren’t insulated and run through unheated spaces like garages and basements, and wrap them in insulation sleeves to prevent freezing and breakage — remember, there’s nothing worse than being knee-deep in a flooded basement in the dead of winter.

It’s likely you won’t even notice these small changes like this in your lifestyle, but what you will notice is the decrease in your heating bill, and future generations will notice the difference in state of the environment.

Through its signature Trees for Tucson program, Tucson Clean & Beautiful can provide up to two low-cost trees for homeowners within the Tucson Electric Power service area. Selection varies throughout the year, but commonly available varieties include mesquite, desert willow, willow acacia, sweet acacia, palo verde, ironwood, and much more. Sponsored by Tucson Electric Power, residents can obtain trees to plant on the east, west, and south-facing sides of the home for only $8 per tree. These trees provide an immediate, and continually growing, improvement to your home’s landscape aesthetics and property value with relatively minimal maintenance and watering required.

Trees also provide valuable wildlife habitat, soak up rain to reduce stormwater runoff, and pulling Carbon Dioxide out of the atmosphere to reduce global warming. As the tree grows to shade the walls of your home – and especially windows, doors, and air conditioners – you should also begin to see a gradual reduction in your energy bill because of the cooling effect of trees! A bonus is that every bit of electrical energy that you save also reduces the need to release Carbon Dioxide into the atmosphere through power generation.

For Tucson Electric Power customers, to request a Trees for Tucson home shade tree application please visit www.treesfortucson.org or call (520) 791-3109.

If you are outside the Tucson Electric Power service area and reside in the Trico Electric Cooperative service area surrounding metropolitan Tucson, please call Trico at (520) 744-2944 or visit www.trico.coop for information on Operation Cool Shade.

www.customsolarandleisure.com

Custom Solar and Leisure is a full service solar power contracting company. We are dedicated to providing high quality solar energy solutions at affordable rates in Tucson and the surrounding area.

We specialize in commercial and residential solar system installations including Solar Power, Solar Panels, Solar Pool Heating, Solar Installation and all your Solar requirements. We are a locally owned company in Tucson, Arizona and are committed to quality solar installations, customer service and assisting our clients with all of their solar needs.

4434 E Glenn St, Tucson, AZ 85712

Ph 520-247-3060 | FAX 520-320-0113

Hi, I’m “Sunny” the GreenWatt.

I work to preserve the environment for future generations by using natural sunlight to generate green electricity. Renewable electricity is energy created from natural resources such as the sun, wind and landfill gas.

The GreenWatts Program lets you support renewable energy for as little as $2.00 per month. For every GreenWatt you adopt, TEP will create 20 kilowatt hours of electricity per month from renewable energy resources.

When you join GreenWatts, 100 percent of your contribution goes toward installing solar power systems at community schools and nonprofit organizations in the Tucson area

GreenWatts is part of TEP’s renewable energy portfolio and is an easy way to invest in Arizona’s energy future.

To learn more about TEP’s GreenWatts program go to our website www.tucsonelectric.com/Green/Business/Solar/community.asp